Howdy Raises $1.5 Million From Top VCs To Develop Apps For Slack

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Despite a checkered history with online platforms, developers are always looking for the next big distribution model and a small but growing number is betting Slack, the popular group-messaging platform, is the way to go.

One such startup, Austin-based Howdy, may be the first to nab venture funding based largely on that vision. Specifically, the company, which has developed a customizable chat bot application that runs automated tasks for teams on Slack, has just nabbed $1.5 million in venture funding from Bloomberg Beta, True Ventures, a small angel group called Outlier and numerous individual investors.

Howdy is first and foremost a time saver for now, especially when it comes to meetings. For example, after connecting to Slack, the app can simultaneously message each member of a team, collecting status updates that can be archived and viewed by everyone. The idea: to keep meetings from turning into one long catch-up session and enabling attendees to focus on decision-making instead. (Worth noting: Howdy can also be used to collect everyone’s lunch orders. It’s up to the team using it.)

Howdy co-founder Ben Brown says the still-in-beta company will eventually charge customers on a monthly basis but that it’s a “little early to know the details.” What he says he does know is that providing applications, content and services via messaging applications is becoming a “huge opportunity.”

He’s so bullish, in fact, he says Howdy will look to work with other enterprise messaging services going forward, even though it’s “primarily interested in Slack” and its 1 million users (and counting).

That’s probably smart. Slack opened itself up to more third-party content in a late-August update. And Brown notes the company has been “very supportive of what we’re doing,” adding that he’s “in direct contact with Slack’s platform integrations team on a near day-to-day basis.”

Still, companies have been known to lose their enthusiasm for certain third-party integrations, sometimes abruptly. (Yes, we’re talking about much larger Facebook and Twitter.)

Asked if he’s at all concerned about putting his new startup at the mercy of a bigger platform provider, Brown — who has co-founded several companies previously, including an early social network that sold to CNet for $1.2 million in 2006 and a software design consultancy — says he isn’t.

“I’m very positive about working alongside Slack, and I think there will be a hopping market of commercial plug-ins for the platform that will emerge in the next couple of months. We just happen to be one of the first.”

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Crunchbase

OverviewSlack is a team communication application providing services such as real-time messaging, archiving, and to search for modern teams. It offers one-on-one messaging, private groups, persistent chat rooms, and direct messaging as well as group chats organized by topic. All content inside Slack is searchable from one search box and it integrates with a number of third-party services, including Google …